Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2021

by Mickey Huff (Editor)

The new and improved "Censored," detailing the top censored stories and media analysis of 2020.

Our nation's oldest news-monitoring group, Project Censored, refreshes its longstanding yearbook series, Censored , with State of the Free Press 2021 . This edition offers a more succinct and comprehensive survey of the most important but underreported news stories of 2020; in addition to a comparative analysis of the current state of corporate and independent news media, and its effect on democracy. The establishment media sustains a decrepit post-truth era, as examined the lowlight "Junk Food News"-frivolous stories that distract the public from actual news-and-"News Abuse"-important stories covered in ways that undermine public understanding. The alternative media provokes a burgeoning critical media literacy age, as evaluated in the highlight "Media Democracy in Action"-relevant stories responsibly reported on by independent organizations. Finally, in an homage to the history of the annual report, the editors reinstate the "Déjà vu News" feature-revisited stories from previous editions. State of the Free Press 2021 endows readers with the critical thinking and media literacy skills required to hold the corporate media to account for distorting or censoring news coverage, and thus, to revitalize our democracy.

Genres: Politics, Journalism

224 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2020

Reviews

[Joel Eis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Project Censored’s State of the Free Press, 2021, Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth, Editors. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2021.

Project Censored’s State of the Free Press, 2021 is more than a book. It’s a challenge in print.
Every year, Professors Huff and Roth challenge a small force of guerilla journalists and student researches to turn over the rocks left undisturbed by the complacent, corporate, click-fed media to show us what is living just under the soft soil of journalism-for-profit in America.
Project Censored was launched in 1976 by Professor Carl Jensen at Sonoma State College in the wine country of Northern California. Now Huff and Roth have taken over and challenge students yearly at several colleges, such as Sonoma State and San Francisco City College to show what can be found with a light scratch to the veneer of a hire-and-pay “free press” that freely ignores what is off the beaten path of poll-conscious media marketers.
This compilation of twenty-five attention-worthy stories un-covered by these diligent inspiring researchers as well as expanded articles explore important stories left uncovered by the main stream press. The collection makes us know much of what we did not know but suspected; that there is far more news to be explored than what the Royal family pulled out of their closets or the glitterati did with their pets.
As a bit of a muckraker myself, I’ve already begun putting post-its on a few stories I want to chase down for myself; the disproportionate murder and disappearance of young women of color or the ramping up of anti environmentalist police and intelligence activity, etc.
Each of these reports is reconnaissance from the free lance front lines of deeper inquiry. They are well-documented, thought provoking, and well composed. Any of us can follow up and share what we learn from these bulletins. They are a challenge and reminder that the vigilance is up to us. If you have a blog or you want to fire one up, you can use any one of these stories and the background behind them as kindling to start a little blaze in your own backyard.

[Danton Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I agree with the statement "Essential reading." The agenda of 'big media' along with "big politics" are aligned with 'big business' rather than with big truth. The stories that were passed by or covered up are as interesting as the tactics of the mainstream media to divert our attention from them by extensive and excessive reporting of "zero calorie" news. One of the reason I stopped watching news and preferred to read it from independent sources is the bothersome coverage of the same trivial things day after day after day. Was nothing else happening in such a big world that kept turning? Even when it was not a trivial issue it seemed like they were beating the dead horse ad nauseum. Project censorship showed me I was not crazy, and there were real things going on that should have been reported.

Project censored is my type of reading material. I like a look behind the scenes that allows me a better picture of the truth beyond mainstream public knowledge. Extensive research went in to the stories, as I did look into several of the references.

There is an abundance of editorial rhetoric between the concise news stories that was very entertaining and thought provoking. Luckily for me, I agreed with most of it. The more people that read this, the better informed humanity will be.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read. An introduction by Matt Taibbi opens this great collection of overlooked stories not only from this and last year, but there's also a section where they report on updates on previously covered stories. It's yet another volume that shows how essential investigative journalism is and how sad and frightening its being in peril is.

[Ron Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The format's a little wonky but well worth reading for the 25 most underreported news stories in American media.